


When In Doubt

by General_Button



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha!Hunk, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Consensual, Established Relationship, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Misunderstandings, No mpreg, Omega!Lance, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 08:07:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7793869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/General_Button/pseuds/General_Button
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Aha!” Lance lifted the bottle triumphantly in the air. For a second he thought he’d lost it on their last mission, but it’d just been squirreled away behind some books. He pulled the bottle against his chest and unscrewed the cap, taking a peek inside.</p><p>Only three left. Lance bit his lip. <i>Shit.</i></p><p>That was another bummer about space: no pills.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When In Doubt

**Author's Note:**

> me: let's write a short pwp  
> brain: *evil laughter*

The worst thing about being stuck in space were the _smells_.

After weeks of being cooped up in the Altean castle, every inch of it was starting to smell like Lance’s teammates. Pidge and Keith, who were both betas, had it lucky; _they_ didn’t have to deal with this kind of crap with their awful sense of smell.

Hunk and Shiro were the only ones who really understood what he was dealing with. As an alpha and an omega respectively, they were privy to the same sense of smell. That being said, Lance had a hard time talking to Shiro. He was his hero, for crying out loud! How was he supposed to approach a guy like that when half the time he was staring off into the space, lost in his own head?

Plus, the few times Lance tried to start a conversation, it never seemed to end well. He didn’t seem to think Lance was very funny. That, and _maybe_ he shouldn’t have made as many jokes about him being captured as he had, but whatever. He was still getting used to this ‘team bonding’ thing.

Speaking of bonding, there was one thing about being in stuck in space that _didn’t_ suck: Hunk. _His_ scent never made Lance want to plug his nose or sneeze a thousand times, but that was mostly due to the fact that they were dating.

Not that the rest of the team knew that.

Ever since they’d gotten mixed up in this Voltron weirdness, there was an unspoken agreement between them that they were keeping it on the down-low. Sure, they hadn’t hung out together in a while, and yeah, maybe Hunk was avoiding him, but things were definitely, totally in the clear.

At least, that was what he kept telling himself.

Lance had noticed a strange shift in their relationship after he got hurt fighting Sendak. He’d come out of his healing coma expecting a heartwarming reception, and for a little while, it had been. Hunk had immediately pulled him into a tight hug, crying out in joy, and things were good. Everyone was laughing and joking despite his recent injuries, and Lance had clung to Hunk, using apparent weakness as a strategy to be close. 

Then something happened. Lance didn't know what had prompted it, but Hunk started staring at him, and not in the kind-hearted, tender sort of way; it was something similar to concern, with a slight mixture of fear. He quickly made himself scarce after that, avoiding Lance's beckoning calls. It was weird, but at the time, he hadn't given it much thought. 

That is, until Hunk started avoiding him. And then he _kept_ avoiding him, even when Lance tried to talk to him. 

More than a little hurt, it quickly became obvious to Lance that something was seriously wrong; outside of training and team exercises Hunk always managed to find an excuse to leave at the last second.

Things only got worse from there when Hunk got all cuddly with the rock lady, Shay.

“Wow, you are really hung up on this lady,” Lance had sneered, jealousy burning hot inside him. The strange rift between them only seemed to grow larger every second that he watched them interact. What was so special about her? he wondered, a little desperately. Why did she garner so much of Hunk’s respect?

Lance probably didn’t help matters when he flirted with that alien chick—Nyma—when they were helping the rebels fix their ship. He remembered glancing back at Hunk after flirting with her for a while, and found him staring at them both _thunderously_. Lance had been so certain that Hunk was going to say something, but instead of speaking to him like a _normal_ person, Hunk just went back to work, acting as if everything was completely fine.

It was all Hunk’s fault, really. _He_ started it when he began to treat Lance like they were barely friends!

“Stupid, stupid Hunk and his stupid, stupid scent,” Lance grumbled, rifling around through his backpack for his pills. Why did everything have to smell like Hunk around here? Oh, right, because they’d been in a relationship until a while ago, apparently! At first it had been a relief to have his scent so close to home, but now that Hunk was busy doing paladin things with people like _Pidge_ , Lance constantly had to resist the urge to tackle Hunk and shove his face into his armpit.

Lance fished out the shirt that he’d stolen from Hunk’s and gave it a tentative sniff. _Ugh_. Why did he have to smell so _good_?

He tossed that onto the bed, and he kept rooting around until—

“Aha!” Lance lifted the bottle triumphantly in the air. For a second he thought he’d lost it on their last mission, but it’d just been squirreled away behind some books. He pulled it against his chest and unscrewed the cap, taking a peek inside.

Only three left. Lance bit his lip. _Shit._

That was another bummer about space: no pills.

The Alteans didn’t have alphas, betas, or omegas, which meant that suppressants were out of the question. Granted, Coran might be smart enough to engineer something on this ship, but Lance was wary of broaching the subject. Every time one of the paladins even mentioned alphas or betas, they had to divulge into a long explanation that didn’t seem to make sense to either of the Alteans.

“You mean you’re _forced_ to copulate? How archaic,” Allura once said in response to Lance’s explanation about heats.

“No, it’s not—“ Lance sighed. “You don’t understand. It’s fun! Or, it can be. I wouldn’t know.”

“Fun? How?”

“Well, uh.” He could feel his cheeks warming in the face of her inquisitive stare. “Actually, maybe Shiro can explain. I’m, uh, I’ve got some things to do, people to see. I’m a popular guy, y’know?”

See, even though Lance and Hunk were dating, they hadn’t actually shared a heat. The academy didn’t give them much chance to be alone, and although now they had all the privacy in the world, Hunk was avoiding him.

If he could just figure out _why_ Hunk was doing this, things could go back to normal. Otherwise, they were both about to be in a load of trouble.

It wasn’t that Lance had to be with Hunk during heat, but he _wanted_ to. He could sometimes be a jerk, but underneath it all, Lance really cared about Hunk. A lot. Maybe more than that.

He tried to think back on their time together out in space. Sometimes he could be oblivious to other people’s feelings: something he had been told many times throughout his life. Maybe the issue was that he’d done something to Hunk and hadn’t realized it. Yeah, that had to be it!

 

First though, he needed to see about the possibility of getting more suppressants.

“So, uh, Coran.”

Lance’s approach was quiet enough that Coran, bent over the main console, spun around with a shout, his arms posed for a fight.

“Oh _quiznak_ , do you know how to sneak up on somebody.” He rested his hands on his hips. “So, Lance, what are you doing here so early? Wait, is it lunchtime already?”

“No, it’s uh, still morning. That’s the thing. I had something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Okay.” Coran blinked, then squared his shoulders as if what Lance was going to tell him was going to be difficult to hear. “What is it? Have you done something?”

“No! Why does everyone— it’s about our biology, the omega stuff. You remember how I tried to explain how we have…” _god_ , why was this so awkward, “…heats?”

“Oh.” Coran tapped lightly on his chin with his forefinger. “Yes. Those strange reproductive habits of you Earthlings. What about 'em?”

“Well, I was kinda hoping that maybe the ship would have some kind of—I dunno—medicinal capabilities? You have your cryo-pod things, but what about creating stuff?”

Coran narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Back home we have these…pills. They’re called suppressants and they keep omegas and alphas from going haywire during heat and rut. Because I’m on suppressants, I won’t have my heat. But the thing is,” he laughed, even though it wasn’t very funny, “I’m about to run out.”

“Oh. _Oh!”_ Coran slapped his hands together. “I remember now. Shiro asked me the same thing a while ago, but I had to let him down. Unfortunately, this ship doesn’t have those capabilities. I’m so sorry, Lance. I could do for you what I did for Shiro. We have excellent rooms on the other side of the ship, if you’d like.”

“So Shiro’s been—“ Lance stopped. No wonder his scent had been especially bad as of late. That could be why Hunk was avoiding him. Maybe he was avoiding them all because he didn’t like how Shiro smelled.

“It all makes sense,” he whispered, at awe with his deductive abilities.

“Hm?” Coran leaned forward. “What makes sense?”

“Oh, nothing.” Lance smiled, flashing him a thumbs-up. He started stepping backwards, eager to go and hunt down Hunk. “I think I just solved one of my problems. Thanks for hearing me out, Coran.”

“No problem!” Coran waved at him jovially. “Just find me if you need anything!”

“That won’t be necessary!” Lance called. Hopefully. If all went well.

Now he just had to find Hunk.

* * *

 

Unsurprisingly, Hunk was hanging out in the dining hall, eating a bowl of delicious green goop as per usual. As Lance carefully peeked around the door to stare at him, something in his chest went tight.

He’d _missed_ him.

He’d missed being hugged by him every morning before training, scenting and rubbing all over each other until they received threats for misconduct. He’d missed Hunk’s smile, and his big brain, and talking about all sorts of things that made Lance numb with boredom, but left such a spark in Hunk’s eye that he didn’t have the heart to stop him.

He’d _also_ missed the way he used to slam Lance against any available surface whenever they made out. God, he’d almost forgotten how hot that was.

Lance was about to step into the room when he realized that Hunk wasn’t alone. Shiro came into view, speaking too low for Lance to hear. Whatever he was saying, it wasn’t making Hunk look happy.

 _Wait, I thought he was avoiding me because he didn’t want to be around Shiro._ Lance frowned. _Damn_ , _I wish I could hear_ _what they’re saying._

He inched closer to the door, but stopped when he noticed Shiro was getting louder; angrier.

“This,” he gestured towards Hunk, then the hallway with his right hand, “this isn’t going to help. You’re only going to make things worse, Hunk!”

“I’m not making it worse, I’m making it _better_.”

“How is this better?” Shiro challenged. Lance couldn’t remember ever seeing him look this irritated. “You know just as well as I do that he’s going to run out, and when he does, he’s going to have no one to turn to.”

“What are they talking about?” Lance mumbled. If he could just get a little closer…

“That’s not true!” Hunk stood to face Shiro. “What do you know? I’m the one that’s spent the most time with him. _I’m_ his alpha.”

“I’m an _omega,_ Hunk. I know better than anyone! You’re young, but you don’t have to bond,” Shiro urged. “If you just talk to him, you’ll both be fine. What are you afraid of?”

Hunk kept his mouth shut.

 _Wait, are they talking about me?_ What the hell were they doing that for?

“Heat alone in a strange place filled with stranger people isn’t a nice thing,” Shiro continued. “I know what that’s like. When I was on the Galra ship it—it wasn’t pretty.”

_Holy moly, they’re talking about heat. Why are they talking about—oh. Oh._

Shiro must have confronted Hunk about Lance’s upcoming heat. He must have known that Lance was running out of pills, and that Hunk was avoiding him. But wait, how’d he know that they were together? Was it really that obvious?

“Holy crow, you weren’t—?”

“No,” Shiro said. Hunk looked relieved. “No, I was fine. But I was alone, and afraid. They didn’t understand what was happening, so they left me alone, probably assuming that I would eventually die.” Shiro glanced at his hand, lifting it. “After that, I was able to lie and convince them that humans went through times of hard sickness, and they bought it.”

“I’m sorry, Shiro. That must have been horrible.” Hunk clenched his fists. “But we’re not on a Galra ship. He’s with friends.”

“Haven’t you smelled him lately? Lance doesn’t smell like an omega surrounded by friends; he smells _scared_.”

Lance swallowed. He hadn’t realized how obvious it was that this whole heat business was affecting him. That meant that Hunk, being his alpha and therefore attuned to his scent, must have known, and yet he _still_ avoided him.

“Go be with him,” Shiro said, pleading for him to listen. “If his heat is coming up soon, he’ll need you now more than ever.”

 _Yeah_! Lance inwardly cheered. _Listen to Shiro. He’s knows what’s up._

It was irritating that they were talking about him behind his back, but maybe this was the kick that Hunk needed. If he could just admit what was _really_ wrong, then maybe—

“I won’t do that to him,” Hunk declared.

Lance’s thoughts came to a grinding halt.

“I’ve never shared a heat with him,” he took a deep breath, “and I never will.”

Lance was suddenly thrown back in time, reminded of a conversation they’d had when they first got together.

“So,” Lance drawled, playing with the tiny hairs on the back of Hunk’s neck. They were lying in Hunk’s bed, and Hunk was reading some dumb engineering book while Lance sat on his back, goofing off on his Pad. “I was thinking, that—I dunno—if you wanted, well... I’m almost out of suppressant pills.”

Heat wasn’t as big a deal as it used to be. Back in the day, you spent your heat with you were going to marry. Now with pills and injections, it was less costly, and bonding wasn’t even really all that necessary anymore. Lance was aware of at least three omegas in the garrison—two of which were female—that had shared their heats with multiple partners.

“I could, y’know, not take them. If that’s something you’re interested in.” Lance tried for suave, and he would have succeeded if his voice hadn’t cracked.

Underneath him, Hunk had gone still.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said at length, keeping his focus staunchly on his book. Then he turned a page, officially dropping the subject.

“Oh,” Lance said, trying to sound cheerful. At the time, he couldn’t help but feel a little rejected. “That’s cool. Got it. Not everyone can handle all of Lance all at once.”

Now it all made sense. Hunk didn’t want to have his heat with him because he was _disgusted_ by it. By him. Not Lance the person, but Lance the _omega_.

Finally knowing the truth felt like somebody had stabbed a knife into his chest and twisted it. Lance grabbed the edge of the door way to steady himself, his blood roaring in his ears.

_He wants to break up with me, but instead of confronting me, he was just going to let it fade. That was it, wasn’t it? Now that I’m about to go full on omega, he wants nothing to do with me._

His lower lip was trembling. Lance bit down until he could taste blood.

Then he did what any sensible person would do: he fled.

“I won’t do that to him,” Hunk repeated, moments after Lance had departed. “Not until I know won’t hurt him.”

“Hurt him?” Shiro smirked. “Trust me, Hunk, the last thing you’ll want to do is hurt him.”

“You don’t get it!” Hunk snapped. He averted his eyes, fisting his hands by his side. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that. You just have no idea what I want to do to him every time he comes near me. I want to touch him so badly I can’t _stand_ it.”

“Avoiding him isn’t helping. It’s because you’re avoiding him that this is happening. Everyone here is stressed, especially the two of you, and your body wants to do what will make it feel better,” Shiro insisted. “Don’t fight it.”

“I…” Hunk deflated. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

* * *

Lance didn’t leave his room that night. It wasn’t because he was crying—which he would deny until the day he died—but rather because he was angry. Specifically, with Hunk. And maybe Shiro for not letting him how Hunk  _really_ felt since he was apparently in on the whole thing, but mostly with Hunk.

So he came up a plan.

Well, ‘plan’ was a loose term. It consisted of two steps: 1) stop taking his suppressants, and 2) live out his heat somewhere far, far away from Hunk.

All things considered, it really wasn’t a plan. More of a sequence of events that he really couldn’t avoid, but it helped that he was _choosing_ not to take his last two pills. It would probably take a few days for the effects to leave his system since he took dailies, but really, how bad could it be?

The answer, he found, was cramps.

Two days after neglecting to take his pills and avoiding both Hunk and Shiro, he woke up with what felt like a stomachache, but quickly developed into a full-blown cramp. It felt like someone take taken a hot iron glove given his insides a good squeeze. Lance couldn’t ever remember having it that bad, and he spent half an hour clinging to his pillow, wondering if braving breakfast was worth it when he felt like he was going to puke if he so much as moved.

He knew that if he didn’t show his face though, those who knew about his condition—Coran, Allura, Shiro, and possibly Hunk—might take it upon themselves to check up on him.

Decided, he gingerly slid out of bed, clutching his stomach.

_Cramps, cramps, why did it have to be cramps? Why couldn’t I be the omega that gets away with just a little extra lubrication?_

In an attempt to alleviate the worst of the symptoms, Lance shoved his face in the shirt he had pilfered from Hunk’s room, burying his nose in the soft fabric. Hunk had always smelled good, but with his heightened senses, it was even better.

Feeling slightly less out of sorts, Lance waited for a few minutes before deciding it was now safe to leave. As a precaution, he threw Hunk’s shirt over his head, wriggling until he was satisfied by how it laid. It felt nice, like he was being surrounded by Hunk.

“Stupid Hunk,” he mumbled before stepping out into the hallway. Nobody was hanging around, so he quickly and quietly made it to the mess hall, hoping that the coast was going to be clear.

No such luck. When he got there, the opposite was true. Apparently everyone decided they wanted to eat together, and when Lance tried to squeeze by the table unseen, six sets of eyes were set upon him.

“Uh, morning,” he said, stopping short in his tracks. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”

“Why are you wearing hunk’s shirt?” Allura asked. “Where have you been?”

Pidge wrinkled her nose. “And why do you stink? I can smell you all the way from here.”

“I don’t smell anything,” Coran added helpfully. Then he narrowed his eyes, fiddling with his mustache. “Oh, is this one of those omega things?”

“Yes,” said Shiro. His expression was pinched. “As I’ve explained before, we use scent to determine a lot of things, including mood. Lance is just feeling…moody today.”

The eyes were back. At Shiro’s pointed look, Lance suddenly remembered he was supposed to say something.

“Oh, right. Yeah!” He glanced down at himself. “I’m wearing this because…I forgot to wash my own clothes, and I’ve had this for ages. You know how it is with best friends.”

“That shirt came from the castle’s stores,” Pidge pointed out. Lance glared at her. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing. Nothing’s going on!” _Smooth. Very smooth, Lance_.

Pidge raised an eyebrow, but sensing that something else was going on, she wisely kept her mouth shut. Lance turned, taking a tray and pouring some green gloop onto it. If he acted like everything was as it should be, maybe they would stop pestering him about the damn shirt.

He glanced behind him as he pointed the food nozzle at his plate. Shiro, Coran, and Allura had returned to their meal, but Hunk—

Hunk was still staring at him. His eyes were wide, mouth hanging open as if he couldn’t believe was he was seeing. Lance, ever the picture of poise and grave, shot him a dirty glare on his way to his seat and ended up tripping.

“I’m fine,” he grit out, steadying himself. Now the glop was on his—Hunk’s—shirt. _Great_. “Thanks for asking.”

“You’re welcome,” Allura muttered absently. She was preoccupied by some display in front of her, tapping her fingers rhythmically against the table.

Rolling his eyes, Lance grabbed another plate from the mess hall and returned, sitting down between Coran and Shiro. Shiro met his eyes and nodded, which was either the signal for ‘I totally understand what you’re going through’, or ‘you really do stink’. Lance wasn’t sure which one bothered him more.

Hunk was _still_ staring. Lance refused to meet his gaze, chomping down onto his spoon with more force than the utensil warranted. It took a while, but when he stopped feeling eyes boring holes into the side of his head, Lance chanced a glance at the alpha in question.

Of all the things Lance expected, he didn’t expect for Hunk to look so _sad_. Lance hated himself for feeling bad about it.

 _Serves him right,_ he thought unconvincingly.

“Are you two fighting or something?” Pidge asked, looking calmly between the two of them.

Lance’s spoon stopped halfway to his mouth, Shiro looked like a deer caught in headlights, and Allura lifted her head from her work, narrowing her eyes at the group.

“What? Who’s fighting?”

Shiro cast a wide-eyed stared at Pidge, but she didn’t seem to get the memo. She shrugged, pointing her fingers lazily between Lance and Hunk.

“Those two. They’ve been acting weird all week.”

“W-We’re not fighting,” Hunk said, piping up for the first time. He glanced at Lance, imploring him to agree.

Too bad Lance wasn’t feeling very generous. He was dealing with Hunk-induced withdrawal, cramps, nausea, and he was about to go into his first heat since he was like, thirteen.

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask Hunk?” he sneered, pointing his spoon in his direction. “You wouldn’t know anything about that—”

“Lance,” Shiro whispered, shaking his head.

“—because you’re too chicken to alpha up and just tell me!” Lance exploded, his bowl clattering as he stood. Shiro had his head buried in his hands; Pidge looked like she’d just struck gold.

Allura’s eyes were now trained solely on Hunk. He looked nervous. Good: let him sweat.

“I, uh.” Hunk swallowed. “Can I talk to you Lance?” He glanced around the table. “In _private_?”

Like Lance was about to agree to a private conversation that would inevitably end in heartbreak. As if! He could take one look into Hunk’s dreamy eyes and see exactly what he was plotting.

Without further ado, Lance slammed his spoon down onto the table, pushed back his chair, stood up, and left.

The rest of the table watched his departure with wide eyes. Pidge was the first to speak.

“Dude, what did you _do_?”

Hunk sighed.

* * *

 

 _I will not cry. I will not_ cry.

Lance swallowed against a lump of emotion lodged in the back of his throat. He was pacing the space in front the training room, deciding whether or not he wanted to work out to try and work through his emotions or just be done with it and curl up into a ball in his room.

Alone.

Emotion swelled within him, and he bit his lower lip.

 _I am not a slave to my hormones, come_ on!

If he could just get a hold of himself for one second, processing his rampant emotions would be a whole lot easier. All he had to do was not think of—

“Lance?”

—Hunk.

“What do you want?” he asked, his voice wavering as he turned around. “But before you say anything, you should know that _I_ know how you feel about me, you jerk.”

“Ah.” Hunk stepped closer; Lance stepped back. “Shiro told you, didn’t he?”

“Shiro didn’t tell me anything. Coward,” he added under his breath. Then, louder: “I overheard your conversation. You know, I was ready to give you the benefit of the doubt. My best friend, my _boyfriend_ , was avoiding me, but I thought you had a good reason. I thought, ‘hey, Shiro’s an omega. Maybe he doesn’t want to be around him when he still smells like heat’ or something. Turns out—“

Lance stopped, the lump in his throat growing impossibly large. He tried again.

“Turns out you—“ he broke off, turning away. Why couldn’t he do this without crying?

He let out an angry sound that was a cross between a shout and a sob. Hunk sucked in a sharp breath, and suddenly Lance felt a pair of warm arms envelope him from behind.

“I’m so sorry,” Hunk said, sounding a little choked up himself. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. But if you know, then you have to understand—“

“Understand?!” Lance broke free of Hunk’s embrace, anger overshadowing the hurt he felt. “I can’t believe you would say that. All I _understand_ is that I disgust you.”

“Disgust? What? No, that’s—“ Hunk laughed, raising his hands. “That’s not it at all! You’ve got it all wrong.”

“You don’t have to pretend, Hunk. I know you’ve been avoiding me because you don’t want to be with me during heat. You said, and I quote: ‘I’ve never shared a heat with him, and I never will.’”

“Oh no.” Hunk squeezed his eyes shut. “Was that all you heard?”

“It was all I _needed_ to hear. You don’t have to want to be with me during heat, but it—“ he cradled his arms against his chest, feeling small, “it hurt.”

“But—but did you hear the rest?” Hunk’s eyes were wide and pleading. “You stormed out after that, so you didn’t hear the rest!”

“Well, yeah,” Lance sneered balefully. “I wasn’t gonna sit there and listen to you badmouth me!”

“Lance, babe—“ Hunk began, pleadingly.

“Don’t you _babe_ me!”

“I’m not disgusted by you. I could _never_ find you disgusting, or gross, or anything like that,” he continued. Hunk stepped closer, prompting Lance to take another step back, ready to flee at a moment’s notice. “When you came into the mess hall, I couldn’t stop staring at you. Wearing my shirt, smelling like that—agh! I’ve always been crazy about you.”

“Then why were you avoiding me?” Lance demanded.

“I thought—look, after you got hurt, I started…thinking. I realized that this was it. We were stuck here with no way of going home, at least not anytime soon. Once I realized you were going to go into heat eventually—omega biology and all—I thought that if I let our relationship just disappear, it would be easier for you. You wouldn’t need me; you wouldn’t need anyone.”

“What the hell, Hunk,” Lance snapped, throwing his hands into the air. “How does that make any sense? If you don’t think I’m gross, why are you so against sharing my heat with me?”

“Shiro was right: I’m so, so stupid. I should’ve talked to you, but I was—I was scared. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Lance blinked. “Hurt me? You think you could hurt me?”

“Well, yeah. Really easily, actually.” Hunk gestured to him. “I mean, you can barely stand—“

“No, idiot, I mean,” Lance sucked in a sharp breath, “during heat?”

“Oh.” Hunk nodded, visibly uncomfortable. “I know how this works. I’ve read stories about alphas going out of control. I’m not going to be like every alpha out there and just take what I want.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Take everything you want?” Lance let out a short laugh. “Are you even listening to yourself?”

“Yes!” Hunk took another step closer, and then another. This time, Lance made no move to step away. “Do you have any idea what I want to do to you?” He reached out and brushed his knuckles over Lance’s flushed cheek. “I want to bend you over the nearest object and go to town. I can’t even guess what’s that’s like during the real thing.”

“Hunk.” Lance was almost speechless. That’s what he’d been worrying about, all this time? “You have been watching way too many alpha pornos. What do you think heat is like?”

He turned an adorable shade of red. “I—I dunno. Like regular sex, but a lot more intense. And alphas aren’t the gentlest creatures. I’ve seen what an alpha in a bad rut can do.”

“Okay, but get this.” Lance pointed at him. “Are you in a rut right now?”

“I—no,” he admitted unhappily.

“Are you like any of those alphas?”

Hunk’s lips went thin with restraint.

“The answer is no, you big dumb idiot! I thought you were supposed to be smart.” Lance took a step towards Hunk. He was close enough now that he could jab his finger at Hunk’s chest. “You are nothing like them, you hear me? And there are plenty of omegas that have hurt alphas in just the same way. Moral of the story? People are horrible.”

“But I—“

“Can’t hurt me,” Lance finished. “Repeat after me: you can’t hurt me.”

“You can’t hurt me,” he parroted.

“Hunk, be serious.”

“I am serious.”

“Hunk!”

“How do you know?!” Hunk exploded. “How do you know everything will be fine? If anything happened to you because of me, I’d never forgive myself.”

“Jesus, Hunk.” Lance pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, I’m not going to force you to spend my heat with me. If it makes you happy, I’ll hole myself up at the opposite end of the castle and do it alone.”

“It wouldn’t,” Hunk admitted reluctantly. He still looked concerned. “But what if—what if I do hurt you?”

“Then we deal with it,” Lance said. He approached him, wrapping his arms around Hunk’s neck. “But you won’t. Just trust me, okay?”

Hunk took in a lungful of Lance’s scent, which seemed to calm him down. “Okay,” he said, sounding less like an idiot and more like the warm, kind-hearted alpha Lance had come to know.

He’d been squashing the urge to pull Hunk into his arms for a good scenting session ever since they’d got on this stupid ship, and he was done holding himself back. He pulled Hunk’s head down and buried his nose into his throat, scenting him like mad.

“I missed you so much, Hunk.”

“I missed you, too.” Hunk wrapped his big arms around Lance’s waist, pulling him tight against his body. By nature his method of scenting was a tad more aggressive than Lance, but he didn’t mind a little aggression. It was kind of hot.

“Think of all the time you wasted worrying about nothing!” Lance added, turning his head to give Hunk access to his neck. Hunk’s hot breath tickled his throat, and the sensation of teeth ghosting across his skin made him shiver.

“I’m sorry,” Hunk rasped. “I thought I knew what I was doing was best, but I’m really just an idiot. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

He pulled back, laying his palms flat on Lance’s hips, and wow, Lance had almost forgotten how big Hunk’s hands were, and how much he’d missed having them all over him.

“I guess I can forgive you,” Lance said. He leaned in for a kiss, catching the corner of Hunk’s mouth. “Just this once— _ow_.”

“What is it?” Hunk pushed him away, which didn’t help matters any. “What’s wrong? Are you dying? Oh my god you’re dying.”

“I’m not dying, Hunk. I’m just cramping. And it would be a lot better if someone,” he jabbed him in the stomach with his finger, “hadn’t,” jab, “ignored me.”

“I know,” Hunk groaned, bowing his head in guilt. “I know. To be fair, I didn’t ignore you, just…avoided you. But I’ll do anything to make it better.”

“Anything?” Lance smirked.

“Yes,” Hunk agreed, looking as if it physically pained him to do so. “Anything.”

“Hmm. Well, a massage would be nice.” Lance leaned into Hunk’s weight, walking two fingers up his arm. “You know I like it when you use your big strong hands.”

“Yeah?” Hunk breathed. It had mostly been a joke, but sometimes Lance forgot how easily Hunk could fall into alpha mode. Being in the preheat stage, he was probably pumping out pheromones like mad. If even _Pidge_ had been able to smell him from a distance, hanging this close to Hunk, his scent would be drawing in on his urge to protect and provide for Lance like crazy.

“Yeah. Come on, Hunk. Let’s take a trip to my room.”

It was then that Hunk seemed to come to his senses. “Wait, you mean—is that happening now? Right now? I’m not ready. Wait, I—I need water. _We_ need water. And snacks. Do Alteans even _eat_ snacks?!”

“Hunk.” Lance gripped him by his face and planted a firm kiss on his mouth, lingering for a few  seconds. When he pulled away, Hunk gripped him by his ass, capturing his lips for another, longer kiss. “Mm, I missed that. What was I saying? Right. Heat. Don’t worry so much about it, Hunk. It’ll probably last a day at the worst. Relax.”

“Right. Relax.” Hunk laughed shrilly. “It’s just going to be our first heat together. No big deal.”

“Exactly!” Lance grinned. “Now you should probably kiss me again because I am about three seconds from jumping your bones.”

Hunk wasted no time complying. He backed Lance up against the wall and cupped his chin, kissing him with thinly veiled desperation.

“You smell really good,” Hunk said against his lips. He gripped Lance’s wrists, rubbing tiny, maddening circles over his pulse with his thumbs as they kissed.

“Right back atcha,” Lance said, biting down gently on Hunk’s lower lip. He felt warm all over. He wrenched his fingers from Hunk’s grasp to bury them in Hunk’s hair, thrusting his hips forward in an attempt to gain some friction. He was rewarded when Hunk leaned all of his weight against Lance and ground their hips together. He kissed him again, harder, using more teeth than tongue.

“Hunk,” he gasped when they broke apart. It was—good. Too good. “We gotta move.”

Hunk hummed in response, peppering kisses over Lance’s lips and cheeks. If his goal set to drive Lance totally wild with lust, it was working. The larger part of Lance wanted to stay put and allow Hunk to have his way with him, but small, more rational part knew that if he let it go any further, they might not make it to his room.

“Hunk,” he whined, wrapping his arms around his middle. He took in fistfuls of his shirt, exposing his throat instinctively when he felt Hunk nose at his shoulder.

“Come on. Everyone’s,” he was forced to pause when Hunk sucked his tongue into his mouth. “Everyone’s probably waiting for us!”

That seemed to bring Hunk to his senses. He blinked, then took a deep, fortifying breath and stepped away from Lance.

“Okay,” he said. His lips were kiss-swollen and his hair was mussed from having Lance’s fingers in it, but otherwise, he looked good. “Let’s let them know everything’s cool with us and then we can—“ he gestured towards their rooms. “I mean, if you still want to.”

“Of course I do.” Lance rolled his eyes and yanked Hunk forward by his collar. “When we get back to the room, we are going to give each other the full-body treatment.”

“Good. Yes.” Hunk nodded enthusiastically. “Let’s do it—I mean, go. Let’s go!”

 _So this is what power is like,_ Lance thought. He patted Hunk on his cheek and led him, slightly dazed, into the mess hall.

The team was still there, waiting around even though it looked like they’d finished eating a while ago.

 _Vultures_.

“Good news,” Lance announced. “Hunk and I patched things up, so you can cut the gossip. Aaand we’re gonna go now. See ya.” 

“Wait,” Pidge called as he turned to leave. “Why were you so mad at Hunk?”

“Why do you wanna know?”

“It’s hard to imagine you seriously angry, and even harder to imagine Hunk being the one to make you angry.” Pidge smiled innocently. “You can’t blame me for being curious.”

“Yeah, I’d like to know, too,” Keith piped in. “What was the matter with you two?”

Lance opened his mouth to tell them a convenient lie, but Hunk beat him to the punch.

“We’re together,” he blurted, effectively pulverizing Lance’s plan to smithereens, “and I made him mad, but I made it better, so we’re good now.”

“Hunk!”

“What? Were we trying to keep it a secret?”

Lance sighed, put upon. “No, I guess not. It just seemed weird to bring it up now.”

“Wait, wait. You two are together? Like, bonded?” Keith asked with wide eyes.

“No. We haven’t—“ he glanced at Hunk, “—discussed it. People can be in relationships without being bonded, you know.”

“Of course I know!” Keith crossed his arms. “It’s just hard to believe it’s not just a fling, the way you’ve been acting.”

Lance was about to respond when he felt arms encircle him from behind, pulling him against Hunk’s firm chest. He all but melted into the embrace, his agitation fading away. Maybe there was something to this whole hormone business.

“Well, believe it, Keith. We’re best friends and I love Lance.”

Lance went still.

“I believe it,” Pidge said. “I caught them making out once in the barracks. I thought that was just hormones, but I guess I was wrong.”

“I knew there was something happening between you two!” Allura clapped her hands together. “Coran thought I was seeing things, but my intuition is never wrong. You two make a lovely couple.”

“S-See?” Lance jerked his thumb at his chest. His heart wouldn’t stop pounding. “I can be serious about someone. All that flirting around was just to make Hunk jealous when he wouldn’t talk to me. Although I’m not sure it worked.”

“Oh, it worked,” Hunk mumbled, his grip tightening. Lance’s stomach did a little flip.

“Sorry.” Keith looked properly chagrined. “Since I can actually smell the two of you from here—especially Lance—I’m guessing you two are going to be holed up for a while?”

“What?” Allura looked at Keith. ”Why?”

“Heat, your majesty,” Coran answered gently. “You remember how Shiro explained his, erm, situation?”

“Oh.” She went slightly pink. “Goodness. I see. Very well.” She looked around at the table. “Will that be a problem for anyone, these ‘smells’ of yours? Would any of you like different rooms?”

“I’ll be fine,” said Pidge. “I shouldn’t be able to smell it unless I go _into_ their room, which I’m not.”

“Ditto,” Keith added.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re all going to avoid us like the plague. Trust me, I don’t want any of you around. Now if you’ll excuse us…” He broke free of Hunk embrace and turned around to make a grand exist, but was soon interrupted as a cramp knifed him in the gut. Lance froze, then braced himself with his hands on Hunk’s shoulders.

“Hunk,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “Help.”

“What? What is it?”

“Cramp. It feels like—like someone’s squeezing my insides. Holy crow, I might not be able to move right now.”

“Right.” Hunk glanced up. Keith, Pidge, and Shiro were preoccupied with cleaning up while Coran and Allura were discussing something quietly at their seats. “What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know.” Lance winced, digging his fingernails into Hunk’s skin. “Making it stop would be nice!”

Hunk did the next best thing: he scooped Lance’s legs out from under him and pulled him into his arms to start carrying him, bridal style.

“This is not what I meant!” Lance squeaked. He wrapped his arms loosely around Hunk’s neck, secretly pleased by the turn of events. Manhandling was one of his weaknesses, and Hunk never failed to find ways to exploit it.

Hunk smirked at him, well aware of his effect on Lance, that _jerk_. Then they slipped out before anyone noticed anything was amiss, and Hunk immediately made for the direction of their rooms.

“Yours or mine?”

“Yours,” said Lance. “It’ll be easier if I’m surrounded by your scent. When I’m in heat, my brain gets all…screwy.” He wrinkled his nose. “It’ll be better that way.”

“Roger that.” Hunk increased his pace. He looked terrified; the weight and responsibility of the alpha was no joke. Omegas tended to lose it, while alphas were basically around for quality control.

“Don’t freak out, buddy.” Lance brushed his nose along Hunk’s throat. He felt him twitch. “It’ll be fine.”

“If you’re sure,” Hunk said slowly. “I’ve never done this before. I mean, we’ve done stuff, but we haven’t…gone all the way. I’m kind of freaking out right now.”

“We have time to figure it out,” Lance assured him, closing his eyes. The way that his cycle had always run, he’d have a day or so of cramping before it got to the good stuff. It sucked that he didn’t have any toys, but with Hunk around, he didn’t think he was going to need them.

“This is gonna be great,” Lance slurred. His stomach felt warm. “Just you wait.”

“Uh, Lance? You don’t sound too good. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“’M fine.”

A few seconds later, and they reached Hunk’s room. Hunk bent down, and Lance slipped out of his arms to wait for Hunk to unlock the door with the scanner. Once inside, he made an immediate beeline for the bed, flopping onto the messy sheets gracelessly.

“Mm. Smells like Hunk.”

“Lance, are you _sure_ we have time? I still need to get the right kind of sheets from Coran, and we probably should get bottles of water—“

“Relax!” Lance said, flipping onto his back. Now that he was surrounded on all sides by Hunk’s scent, he felt more alert. “We’ve got time. And since my body is killing me, I think a massage from a big strong alpha might be in order.”

Hunk seemed caught between his urge to prepare for the inevitable and the need to have his hands all over Lance. In the end, Lance won out.

“Fine.” He sighed. “Just for a little bit. Then we prepare for real deal, okay?”

“Aye aye, captain.” Lance saluted, then rolled back onto his stomach. “Commence the massage.”

Hunk sat down at the edge of the bed. He pulled off his shoes, then stripped off his gloves, taking care to set them somewhere out of the way, so that neither of them would accidentally trip of stumble over them mid-heat. Lance prodded him with his own shoes, which prompted Hunk to lean over and yank them off of his feet.

“You’re so good to me,” Lance said. “Well, except for before. I might still be a little mad at you.”

“Don’t worry, I am too,” Hunk replied, stripping himself of his vest in one smooth move.

“Ooh, me likey.” Heat rushed through Lance’s abdomen, but not before the moment was ruined when he was assaulted by an awful cramp. He pressed his face into the pillow with a groan, willing his body to get a hold of itself. First he was nausea and crampy, then he was turned on, and now he was crampy all over again!

Noticing his dilemma, Hunk didn’t waste another second. Stepping over Lance, he straddled his waist, rubbing his hands together tentatively. “So, is there a right way to do this? I’ve only done this a couple of times.”

“I guess I should flip onto my back.” Lance brought his knees out from under Hunk and turned over. After he was settled in, he threw his arms out to his side and closed his eyes, waiting.

“Sure. Uh, I guess I’ll just…” Hunk reached for the hem of Lance’s shirt and pulled it up over his chest. Then he placed his hands hesitantly over Lance’s stomach, fingers spread wide. “I’ll just…do it.”

“Go for it.”

He started off slow. Hunk moved his palm over Lance’s belly button, rubbing his fingertips firmly into the surrounding area. Sharp pain radiated from one spot in particular. Lance winced and snatched at Hunk’s wrist, pulling his fingers away.

“A little softer there, buddy.”

“Ooh, sorry.” Hunk waited a beat, then continued, using less pressure. After about a minute, the pain began to alleviate and Lance was actually starting to feel better. That wasn’t to say he was about to melt into the sheets just yet, but he was certainly getting there. Hunk’s hands were warm and steady, his palms mirrored across Lance’s stomach. It felt amazing, but after another minute or so, he noticed that his pace began to lag, slowing down.

Lance wrenched an eye open when he realized Hunk had completely stopped. He was inches away, a hungry look on his face.

“You smell good,” Hunk breathed. “Really good, Lance.”

He bridged the remaining gap between them and kissed Lance’s cheek, chin, and throat, lingering each time. Then he cupped Lance’s chin and started working his way lazily down Lance’s neck.

Lance was powerless to resist Hunk when he was like this. He wrapped his legs around Hunk’s waist to urge him closer, and a growl sounded in the back of his throat.

 _Holy crow that’s hot._ Hunk moved like a man possessed, scenting Lance like his life depended on it. He dragged his hands up Lance’s ribs, thrusting his hands under his shirt to feel at his chest. Lance bit the back of his wrist, digging his feet into the small of Hunk’s back. His mind felt clouded, his eyelids heavy, and all this touching and biting was turning him on again.

Hunk nipped and licked at the crook of his neck, his hands groping eagerly at Lance’s ass. Then he pulled him tight against his body, grinding their hips together.

A quiet moan slipped out of Lance, and then they both froze.

Hunk was the first to move. He pulled back, cheeks flushed from a combination of embarrassment and arousal.

“Sorry,” he said, looking anything but. “I got kinda carried away there. Do you want me to continue? I can control myself.”

 _I don’t want you to control yourself_ , Lance thought. He bit his lip to keep from saying what was on his mind. “Sure. Lemme just turn around.”

He figured that if he was on his back, Hunk couldn’t seduce him with his gorgeous face and his evil mouth.

Resuming his former position above Lance’s hips, Hunk lifted his shirt and then laid his hands at the base of Lance’s spine, just below his ribs. After applying some pressure, he started to move down to the top of Lance’s hips, working his fingers in those same small, circular motions. Then he moved his palms outwards, fingers skimming and pressing into the corners of Lance’s hips.

Heat shot up through his stomach. Lance repressed a shiver.

 _Relax,_ he told himself. _This is supposed to be relaxing._

Granted, it was difficult to relax when his hot alpha boyfriend had his magic hands all over his body. Lance would have loved to get right down to the dirty, but his abdomen felt hot and tight, the muscles there bunched into knots. He _needed_ this.

Unaware of Lance’s internal struggle, Hunk kept at it. Lance kept telling himself to relax, but every time Hunk’s hands passed over his hips, he felt his entire body grow hotter.

When Hunk pressed his thumbs into Lance’s tailbone, for a split second, his stomach burned so hot that Lance felt like he about to puke. Then, as sudden as it had come, the feeling of heat sank into his hips and settled there, simmering.

Lance still felt warm. Shivery. Pressure in his hips was starting to build.  He buried his face in Hunk’s pillow, lifting his hips to alleviate the odd sensation. The pressure and heat were still there, almost like he was—

 _Oh_. _I’m an idiot._

“Uh, Hunk?” he began, panicked. “Hunk, stop.”

“What is it? Did that hurt?” Hunk lifted his hands. “Was this because I grabbed your butt? That’s _your_ fault for wiggling it in my face.”

“No, no, I’m—“ he broke off as a wave of dizziness came over him. The pressure increased tenfold, and sizzling heat spread throughout his limbs. Lance was swimming in it, warm all over but for the center of his core, where it burned so hot that he felt like he was on fire from the inside out. “I think it’s happening. I think I’m in heat.”

“Wait, you mean…now?”

“Yes, now!”

“Like, now now?”

“Yes, Hunk!” He turned to face him, something inside of Lance snapping at the movement. Arousal hit him like a tidal wave, drowning him in a sea of want. “Yep. Definitely happening.”

“But—but I’m not ready. _We’re_ not ready. Oh god this is bad. We don’t even have water or heat sheets. How do you feel? Do you need anything?”

Lance squeezes his eyes shut. It wasn’t like his mind was totally gone—heat didn’t work like that—but it was impossible to concentrate when Hunk was so close. So very, very close.

“Look, just get the stuff from Coran or Allura or whoever and I’ll stay here,” he said. His mouth was saying words that his brain didn’t agree with, and he had to restrain himself from taking it back and begging Hunk to stay.

Hunk’s brows furrowed. It looked like the last thing he wanted to be doing was leave Lance. There something feral in his gaze. His instincts were probably screaming at him, urging him to stay and cuddle up with his omega. If Lance didn’t get him out of here, it was going to be almost impossible to push him away.

“It only just started. I’ll be fine.” He sat up to showcase this, and felt a telltale rush of fluid leak onto his underwear. “Really.”

“You sure?” Hunk slid off of the bed, his eyes trained solely on Lance, searching for any indication that he was lying.

Lance nodded, twisting his mouth into a passable smile. He had to keep absolutely still; if he moved even an inch, he was afraid that he would launch himself at Hunk.

“Okay.” Hunk took a step back, then another. “I’ll be right back.” He opened the door, then looked behind him one last time. “For the record, I just wanna say: I told you so.” He turned back towards the door, then spun around again. “Also, don’t move. Or go anywhere. Not like you would,” he laughed, “but really. Don’t do that—moving thing.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Lance grit his teeth. “Just go!”

Hunk looked visibly disturbed to be leaving the comfort of their nest and he watched Lance like a hawk until the door slid shut. He wouldn’t have been surprised if he was still staring at the door long after it had closed.

Lance would have felt bad, but he was suddenly _insanely_ sensitive to everything: the artificial air circulating around the room, the sheets under his hands, and the feeling of clothes laying on his skin. Hunk’s shirt no longer felt comforting; now it felt like sandpaper; his belt bit into his hips like a knife. Lance couldn’t wait another second tear his clothes off.

He pulled his shirt off, belt, and socks, and his pants would have soon followed if his fingers would stop _shaking_. After nearly a minute of struggle, Lance’s frustration hit its peak and a with a growl he forced them past his hips, throwing them in a messy pile off to the side.

The wet patch on his underwear gave him pause. It served as a reminder that this was happening, that there was no going back. Whether or he wanted it, he was going into heat with Hunk, and he had no idea what that was going to be like.

 _It’s going to be fine,_ he told himself.

Now that the initial relief that he felt in being free of the confines of his clothes had faded, something felt wrong. A minute ago he couldn’t wait to shove a hand down his pants and go to town, but now that Hunk was gone, it didn’t feel the same.

He stared at his dick with contempt. He was hard, but for some reason, he didn’t _want_ to jerk himself off.

“This is stupid,” he muttered, throwing himself onto the bed. Immediately Hunk’s scent enveloped him like a warm blanket, kindling the dying embers of his arousal. “Stupid Hunk and his,” he inhaled, “amazing scent.”

Oh. _Oh._ Now he was starting to feel it. Need flared hot in his stomach, but it didn’t stop there. It spread to his fingers and toes and maybe his brain, because it was becoming difficult to process exactly what he was feeling. Had it always been this intense?

And there was that same pressure around his lower back. He recognized it now as an urge; an itch, insistent and undeniable, coming from somewhere deep inside of him. Lance arched his back, bearing down on the sensation, but instead of making it better, it became worse. It buried itself deeper, where he couldn’t hope to reach on his own. Hot slick gushed from his hole, slipping messily down his thighs.

Lance was starting to regret sending Hunk away. He was just supposed to be gone for a few minutes, but Lance wasn’t sure he’d last that long. He gnawed impatiently on Hunk’s duvet.

As he waited, it felt like hours passed when it must have only been minutes.

Somehow, while he wasn’t paying attention his hand had gravitated to his dick. He gave it an experimental pump, and gasped when his stomach swooped out from under him. So he did it again, harder, following the vein with his thumb. He jerked himself off for about a minute, but soon it became obvious that his body craved something different.

Frustrated, he let his hand fall to the sheets. Since there wasn’t much to do but wait for Hunk’s return, he took the chance to look around—something he hadn’t done since they’d arrived. Their rooms were pretty sparse, leaving room for clothing and little else. Hunk had the yellow lion pajamas hanging on the wall, along with a few toiletries. One in particular caught this eye: Hunk’s hairbrush.

It was shaped differently that regular hairbrushes; more streamline. The hand was longer and thick at the end. Lance felt his mouth water.

 _Maybe I could just…_ He’d made it halfway across the room before he realized what he was doing. _Agh! This heat think is awful. I do_ not _want to fuck myself with a hairbrush._

He scrambled back onto the bed, trying in vain to distract himself.

 _Let’s think about something unsexy. Voltron isn’t sexy._ Inevitably his thoughts turned to the paladins. _None of them are sexy, hah! Well, except for Hunk._

Thinking of Hunk piloting his lion made Lance shudder. Hunk had always been a nervous kind of guy, so seeing him become so confident with himself and his skills was really freaking hot.

It was kind of like how he was when he was in the bedroom. All his anxieties were stripped away when he was alone with Lance. He was more in tune with his nature, and Lance always loved it whenever Hunk took the initiative.

For example, he liked to tease Lance. Sometimes, if they had time to spare, Hunk would play with nipples, bringing Lance to the edge over and over until he was _begging_ for him to let him come.

Lance slid his palm up his chest, imagining Hunk’s large hands in their place. If he were here, he would have tweaked them, just like Lance was doing now. And with his free hand he would have gripped Lance at the base of his dick and stroked it, keeping his touch light and teasing.

Lance jerked into his own fist, thumbing the slit with _just_ the right amount of pressure. He could almost hear Hunk breathing behind him, telling him how good he was doing, how amazing he was.

Sometimes, if he was really into it, he might get wet like he was now. Hunk never said as much, but Lance could tell how much he liked it when that happened. Lance got onto his knees and reached behind himself, imagining Hunk in his place. His fingers were thick, and long, and one time he’d surprised Lance into orgasm when he prodded his hole with his finger, teasing around the rim until Lance came.

He pressed a finger inside himself, whimpering. He wanted that now. He wanted _Hunk_ now. His own hand was too small in comparison, and his reach was nothing compared to Hunk’s.

“Hunk,” he rasped, pushing the finger deeper. He was so, so wet, but it was tight. There was a second of pain, but soon he was able to add a second. He added an ambitious third, but pain flared up into his spine, so Lance backed off, going back to pumping two fingers inside himself.

And for a while, it worked. He felt satisfied; content.

It didn’t last long. The moment that his body got accustomed to that feeling, he wanted more— _needed_ more.

He felt empty, and he wanted to feel _full_.

He needed Hunk.

* * *

 

“Dude, you wouldn’t believe the trouble I had to go through to get this,” Hunk prefaced as the door slid open. “Apparently these are sheets for kids that wet the bed, but I _guess_ it’ll work. Still feels weird, though. And I got water…” He slowly trailed off, eyes going wide, “…too.”

The bundle of sheets fell to the ground, and water bottles scattered away.

“Hunk,” Lance sobbed. He had three fingers in his ass, and he was pressing back into his hand with desperation. It had almost been enough, he’d almost been _there_ , but the moment that he saw Hunk, he couldn’t think about anything else but having him.

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t stop. I can’t _take_ this.” Lance bit down on the bedsheet, rocking back into his fingers. He couldn’t _think_ he wanted him so badly. “Hunk. Please, _please,_ I need you.”

“Holy crow,” Hunk whispered, his pupils blown black with lust. “Holy _crow_ , do you have any idea how you smell—“ his hands were moving on his own, yanking off his shirt, pushing his pants down past his hips. He stumbled to the bed, one pant leg still clinging to his ankle.

Lance launched himself at Hunk, crawling into his lap. His hands were moving on their own, trying to reach everywhere; running over his chest and shoulders, skimming his hips and stomach. He straddled Hunk’s leg, subconsciously rubbing his dick along the top of his thigh.

“Hunk, where have you—“ he stopped, distracted by the feeling of his large, warm hand stroking his thigh. It took him a few seconds to collect his thoughts. “What took you so long?!”

Hunk was in the middle of trying to pull his pants off of his ankle without looking, too preoccupied with kissing Lance. “Sorry,” he said in a rush, “I didn’t mean to take so,” kiss, “long. How—“ kiss, “How bad is it?“

He managed to pull it off, and after throwing it off to the side, he turned to push Lance back against the sheets. Lance squirmed onto his stomach, presenting himself eagerly.

“I can’t even describe it, Hunk,” Lance groaned. “It’s like it _hurts._ ”

“I know, I _know_.” Hunk nearly ripped his underwear in his haste to pull it off. Lance craned his neck to look, his mouth doing dry when Hunk’s cock bobbed into view. He was massive: shorter than Lance, but impossibly thick. Lance had seen his dick plenty of times, but he’d never seen his knot before.

“I don’t know if that’s gonna fit,” Lance said, but his body had other ideas. When Hunk pried his cheeks apart, exposing his hole, he felt looser than he remembered. More slick dribbled out, coating Hunk’s hand and fingers in the sticky fluid.

“It will,” Hunk said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself. He pressed his dick along Lance’s hole, and oh yeah, that was definitely a knot. “I think,” Hunk added. His hands were shaking almost as bad as Lance’s. “I feel like I’m going to go crazy if I don’t fuck you, Lance.” It was nearly a whine. “I’ll just put the head in, how about that?”

Lance broke out into shivers. His belly felt hot, like his insides were made of the same goo that they ate every morning. “’Kay,” he agreed, pressing back into Hunk. “Do it.”

“Yeah, just a little. Try to, uh, relax.” Hunk said, entering him slowly. Lance nodded, holding his breath. He didn’t feel very relaxed, but it didn’t seem to matter. When Hunk slid inside him, what little resistance he had melted away.

Hunk was _huge_. He let out a long, trembling moan, spreading his legs wide to accommodate his girth. Lance felt like he was being split open, and he quivering and sweating, but his body was taking it. Hunk slid in a little further, shallow thrusts helping him inch his way inside. Lance was dizzy with want. Fluid gushed down his thighs, leaking over his balls that were drawn tight against his body. He realized with a start that he was about to come.

“Hunk.”

“I can’t stop,” Hunk groaned, leaning heavily over Lance. “You feel just— _so_ good, Lance. You’re amazing. I can’t believe you’re doing this. I can’t believe _we’re_ doing this.”

Lance tried to speak, tried say _don’t stop_ , but all he could do was moan. Hunk gave an experimental thrust, forcing himself past the point of the greatest resistance, and suddenly he was in.

“Ah.” Lance trembled, his pulse roaring in his ears. Internal muscles he didn’t even know he had tightened, drawing a hiss out of Hunk. He pulled him all that much deeper, where he hurt the most, where he needed it the most. “Hunk. Oh my god, _Hunk_.”

He shuddered once, violently, and came. Or at least, it felt like he came. He could barely hear himself over the sound of his own voice, and all that dribbled from his cock was a heavy amount of precome. When he looked down, he noted that he was still hard.

“Lance, Lance, you’re so tight right now. I can’t even _move_.” Hunk was panting, gripping his hips for dear life. “Did you come? You’re still hard but you’re really wet. I think that was, like, an internal orgasm or something? I think that’s a thing.”

“I—I don’t know,” Lance said waveringly. “I think, I think I want you to move now.” Hunk moved back an inch, and pleasure shot up his spine. “Yes, _yes,_ like that. Keep going.”

Hunk pulled out about halfway before thrusting back inside. He groaned with effort, trying to keep the pace slow, but Lance didn’t _want_ it slow. He whined, bracing himself on his hands in order to meet every thrust. It didn’t take long for Hunk to get a clue; he started going faster, chasing each thrust by pulling Lance back against his hips. When Lance felt another orgasm rushing towards him, he reached behind him, blindly scraping his fingernails along Hunk’s hip.

This time, when Lance went stiff, seconds from coming, he felt Hunk thrust fully inside him and stop, grinding into his ass. Lance could feel it—his knot—getting bigger, pushing right against his prostate, and he let out a shout, burying his face in his arms as he came all over the sheets.

“I think I’m about to knot,” said Hunk from above. “I’ve never done it, but—but I can feel it. It’s getting harder to move.” His thrusts were shallow, pulling him out only a few inches, as if he couldn’t stand the thought of being that far apart.

Knotting was supposed to be the most intense experience that an alpha/omega couple could have, but Lance had only dealt with toy knots, which had never felt this big. A small part of him wasn’t sure he could take it.

“Do you want me to knot you?” Hunk asked, as if reading his mind. His movements were nearly nonexistent now, and his knot was tugging uncomfortably on Lance’s rim. “For the record, I really, really, want to.”

The much larger part of Lance wanted it; needed it. _Screw it,_ he thought.

Lance nodded.

“Yeah, okay. It’s happening.” Hunk’s thrusts became messy, erratic. “Oh yeah, Lance, I can feel it.”

He gave Lance several short, brutal thrusts, his knot catching and pulling at Lance’s hole. His knot swelled bigger, and bigger still, so big that Lance was afraid it wouldn’t fit, but then Hunk forced it inside, and pleasure and pain became muddled until it was all Lance could do to keep from screaming.

“Holy _quiznak_ , Hunk—“ Lance gnawed on his knuckles. “It’s so big.”

“Lance, I’m coming,” Hunk rasped. He scraped his nails down Lance’s side and then wrapped his arms around his middle, clinging to him with a desperation that he found endearing. “ _Lance_.”

Lance didn’t come a third time, but it was close. His body went tight, cock twitching heavily, but he was too overwhelmed by the knot to reach completion. The pressure was insane; he’d heard the first knotting was always the worst, but he’d never felt anything like this before.

Eventually, when Hunk’s orgasm subsided, he pulled the two of them onto their sides and maneuvered Lance until he was in as comfortable a position as possible.

“You’re amazing,” Hunk whispered. He brought his arms around Lance and pulled him as close as psychically possible.

“What?” Lance was slowly coming back to himself, registering what Hunk was saying as words. His dick throbbed, reminding him that he was still hard. “No, _you’re_ amazing.”

“I’m serious. I was scared and worried, and,” Hunk’s grip tightened, “and I was _such_ an idiot. Thank you for sticking with me.”

“I forgive you. For real this time,” Lance teased, trying not to squirm. Moving brought Hunk’s knot into contact with his prostate, and he was already feeling overstimulated enough. “I’m glad it was you. I didn’t want anyone else and I really didn’t like the thought of being alone.” He craned his neck to kiss Hunk, inadvertently bearing down on his knot. That time it felt good, and his cock jerked, arousal pulling at his gut. He bit his lip, and did it again.

Lance felt ridiculous; he’d already come _twice_ and he still wanted more. If he could just move _just_ a little harder without Hunk noticing…

“Oh.” Hunk leaned over to look at his middle. “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry, Lance. I’m the worst boyfriend _ever_. Hold on.”

Before Lance could get a word in edgewise, he’d wrapped his fist around Lance’s cock, jerking him hard and fast. He used his free hand to spread Lance’s legs apart, pushing his knot into Lance in a slow, solid grind.

“Hunk, oh my god, that feels—” Lance’s breath hitched, his muscles going tight. It was embarrassing; he felt like he’d just come, and now he was about to come _again_. He couldn’t remember wanting this much, or needing it this badly. When Hunk sucked on a high spot on his neck, Lance signaled his release with a quiet, hiccupping moan.

“Whoa, you just got tight. I think,“ Hunk broke off with a hiss, fingernails digging into Lance’s waist. “I think I’m coming again.”

“Omega release triggers the alpha release,” Lance recited, remembering it from some class he’d probably fallen asleep in the middle of. “It shouldn’t last that long, I think. Thanks for that, by the way.”

He felt Hunk nod.

“I wasn’t gonna let you go unsatisfied,” he said. His voice sounded strained. “I’m not a complete jerk.”

Lance felt warm for a different reason this time.

They spent the next few minutes doing their best to relax. Then five minutes turned into ten, and ten into fifteen. Lance needed to come periodically, which then triggered Hunk’s release. And man, could Hunk come.

And come. And _come_.

By the twenty minute mark, Lance was starting to feel uncomfortably full.

Hunk whistled. “I can’t believe I’m still coming.”

“Yeah, it’s weird. Intense. I feel like I shouldn’t, but I kinda like it.”

He could feel every inch of Hunk throb and twitch inside of him. It was satisfying on some base level knowing that Hunk was knotting _him_ , doing all this for _him_.

“Actually, I didn’t want to say anything weird, but now that you’ve said, I’ll freely admit it’s very attractive.” Hunk kissed the sensitive spot behind his ear. “Seeing you plugged up with my knot is doing things to me I didn’t even _know_ were possible. I’ve never felt this way before. And your scent, Lance, is amazing. It’s like all of my favorite foods packed into one delicious smell.”

“That’s your alpha talking,” Lance replied, reaching back to poke him in the side. Hunk snatched his hand and intertwined their fingers. Sap. Which reminded him: “Hey, Hunk, what you said before…did you mean it?”

“What I said before?” Hunk frowned against the nape of his neck. He couldn’t stop placing kisses on his damp skin, which felt lovely but were incredibly distracting.

“About—you know. You… loving me,” he said, sounding small. “You don’t have to answer right now. I know it was spur of the moment—”

“I love you.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lance felt his knot begin to deflate, slipping free from his body. His heart fluttered and his throat went dry.

He opened his mouth to reply, to say something, but as if a candle has been lit, he was suddenly, desperately aching to be filled. All he could manage was a strangled sound in the back of his throat.

“Lance?”

Lance turned his body, a shudder working through him when he felt Hunk slip free. Hunk looked puzzled, but then he smelled it: Lance’s pheromones were pumping again, working them quickly back up to fever pitch.

“Fuck me,” Lance blurted, then winced at his own pleading tone. “I mean—yes. Right now, please.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Hunk said, grinning. He hiked Lance’s legs over his shoulders, leading his cock back into his receptive hole. This time, he didn’t hesitate to quicken the pace, fucking him long and most importantly, _deep_.

Lance scraped his fingernails down Hunk’s forearms, trying to remember how to breathe. He’d never properly appreciated Hunk’s thickness until he was pounding his ass like a man possessed. There was no time to negotiate, no time for words. Sharing breaths and bodies, it was all Lance could do to hold onto coherent thought. He felt like he was losing himself, and Hunk was the only thing keeping him grounded.

There a sound, a high pitched keen, and it took Lance a second to realize it was his own voice. Lance for the life of him couldn’t seem to keep his mouth shut. He would have felt embarrassed, but if anything, it spurred Hunk on; with every answering moan, he worked harder, thrusting sharply into Lance and burying himself to the hilt before pulling out and repeating the motion.

“Hunk, Hunk, you’re so big, it’s—it’s perfect.” Lance felt teeth drag across his shoulder and let his head fall to the side, exposing his throat for the taking. Hunk immediately licked and sucked on his skin, gripping his hips in a way that told Lance he’d have bruises for the next week. He hoisted Lance’s hips up higher, burying himself deeper, threatening to unravel the hot coil of heat burning inside Lance.

“Oh god oh god, oh—” He opened his mouth to scream Hunk’s name, but what came out was a strangled moan. Hunk was slamming his cock into Lance, hard and fast and so, so good.

It didn’t take long for Lance to come; he’d been ready since Hunk’s knot had gone down, and when Hunk wrapped his fist around Lance’s cock, this time he _did_ scream, clinging to Hunk like his life depended on it.

Hunk didn’t let up, fucking Lance through his orgasm. Then Lance started to sag, so he adjusted his grip, waiting until his knot started to inflate before slowing.

“Gonna come,” Hunk growled. “Still want me to knot you?”

“Yeah,” Lance said. Thinking about knotting made him feel shivery and hot all over. Just a little while ago he’d been afraid, but now he wanted it more than anything he’d wanted in his entire life.

“Thank you thank you thank you,” Hunk babbled, burying his nose in the crook of Lance’s neck. He was slowing down, going longer and deeper, spending more time inside Lance. He scraped his teeth along the skin, right over where their bondmark would have lay. “I wanted to knot you so badly, but I didn’t know if that was what _you_ wanted. Maybe—maybe last time wasn’t good, maybe I wasn’t good—”

“You’re perfect,” Lance cut in. “You don’t need to ask anymore. Knot me, big guy.”

Hunk nodded. The burning embers of Lance’s arousal roared to life when he felt Hunk bury himself to the hilt and stay there. The knot swelled, but this time it didn’t hurt; it felt good, amazing even, and Lance was almost relieved that they were stuck together for an indeterminable amount of time.

“This actually feels really nice,” he slurred, awash with bliss. His dick was still hard, but he could happily have died in that moment. Hunk nodded in agreement, in the middle of trying to decide how to position them, wary of tugging on the knot and making things painful.

He braced his hands on either side of Lance. “It does feel good, but Lance, I’m, uh, going to need your help. I’m gonna lift you and let you lay on top of me, okay?”

Lance lifted his arms in response. Together they managed to move without tugging too much on the knot until Hunk was resting against the wall conveniently and Lance sat in his lap, sucking distracting marks all over his neck and shoulders.

“People are going to know exactly what we were doing,” Hunk pointed out.

“They’ll know either way,” Lance said in retort. He nipped at his shoulder. “I’m going to smell like you and you’re going to smell like me. We’ll stink.”

“I don’t mind that part at all.” Hunk brushed his lips across Lance’s forehead. “Something feels off when you don’t smell like me. Last week was—awful. I’m _really_ happy right now.”

“Mm, me, too.” Lance’s eyes slipped shut. He felt surprisingly tired. His muscles were sore and his ass was going to be begging for mercy when this was over, but he also felt…safe. Secure. Before he knew it, he was starting to doze.

“Lance, are you falling asleep?”

“Mm,” he hummed.

“Uh, is that a good idea? Won’t that like, mess up the heat schedule or something?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lance assured him sleepily. “It’s gonna be fine. Whether we fuck or sleep, who cares?”

“I guess.” Hunk frowned. “Man, I just realized that I am _really_ thirsty. After this we are drinking water. And eating something. I think I have some snacks lying around my backpack.”

“Mhm.” Lance let Hunk’s chatter wash over him. Water, food, who gave a crap? They’d be fine for a day or so. He was actually feeling pretty good right about now, and if his calculations were correct, the way things were going, by the end of the night it’d be over.

* * *

 

Lance woke up sore and with a dry mouth.

 _What time is it_ , he thought blearily, blinking awake. After a beat, he realized that the lights weren’t off, but rather dimmed, and he was staring at Hunk’s chest. An experimental feel and the lack of a wet spot told Lance that the sheets had been changed. Glancing behind him, he noted that water bottles had been set out with some snack bars. Somehow while he’d been asleep the knot had gone down and Hunk had moved them both. He couldn’t imagine doing all that work on his own, but maybe it was different for Hunk.

Which begged the question: did alphas still want to fuck if the omega was asleep?

After pondering this for a bit, Lance’s throat reminded him that it was parched. He quietly extracted himself from Hunk’s embrace and reached for one of the water bottles, tipping it back and chugging it. Once the entire bottle was drained, he had to restrain himself from grabbing another.

His bladder was now reminding him that he hadn’t used the bathroom in quite some time. There was no need to wake Hunk for something like _that_ ; he didn’t feel like a sex-crazed maniac anymore, so he surmised that things were probably slowing down and it was safe to go on his own.

When he got up from the bed, he felt was a slight twinge in his belly. It did admittedly get progressively worse as he moved, but as Lance walked to the bathroom, he felt like he was stabilizing. He could handle it.

Thankfully, the bathroom was connected to Hunk’s room so Lance didn’t have to tip-toe his way to pee hoping nobody would pass by and smell him. Besides, the thought of putting on clothes made his skin crawl. For one, he was covered in fluid, and he looked like a hot mess. Probably.

Lance didn’t have time to find out. As soon as he stepped away from the toilet, the urge that he’d been staunchly trying to ignore came back full force. He braced himself on the wall, breath coming out in short, ragged huffs. He clenched his fists.

 _Damn it._ His fingers were trembling and his head was spinning. He thought he could make it back and forth no problem, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

 _I can do this_ , he thought, encouraging himself to make it to the door. If he could just get back to Hunk, he’d probably feel better.

He took a step forward, but the movement only made everything _worse_. He nearly collapsed as arousal slammed into his gut, a need so strong that he felt that if he moved even an inch, he’d lose it and impale himself on the closest object.

 _I need to get to Hunk._ Gritting his teeth, he took one step, then another, and made it to the sink near the door. He glanced in the mirror.

He looked wrecked.

His hair was askew, his skin was flushed, and it looked he’d suddenly contracted a disease around his neck and shoulders. There were hickeys and scratch marks all over, but most of them were concentrated around a low spot on his neck.

He shuddered, thoughts of bonding cut off as his body reminded him he needed a good hammering.

The shaking was getting worse, and he needed relief _now_ or he was going to explode. Reaching behind himself, he starting fingering his ass, but the relief was short-lived. Without Hunk, it was useless. Nothing could fill him with the same sense of satisfaction. He let out a pitiful whine, pressing his forehead against the cool glass of the mirror.

_If I can just—_

__The sound of the door sliding open and Hunk’s pervasive scent made Lance sag with relief.

“Hunk! Oh thank god you’re here. I thought,” he paused to swallow, words becoming scrambled. Without needing prompting, Hunk slid up behind him, pressing his length between Lance’s cheeks. “I thought…”

“Sorry, sorry. I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I’m here,” Hunk said soothingly, rocking his hips. Lance had his legs spread, and Hunk’s dick kept catching on his hole, distracting him from his thoughts.

“No, you shouldn’t have to stay up,” he protested. Why couldn’t he _think?_

The head of Hunk’s dick sank into Lance’s hole with a wet squelch. Hunk groaned, fucking him until he was hilt deep.

“I thought,” Lance was panting now, devoid of breath. “I thought I could handle it. Being away. But I _couldn’t_ , and—“ he stopped, his muscles fluttering around Hunk as pulled nearly all the way out, and then slammed back inside. “Oh god, deeper, like that.” He did it again, and again, brushing away Lance’s concern with every stroke.

Lance forgot what he wanted to say after that. Things only escalated from there.  

He’d been sorely mistaken when he thought the rest of his heat would get any easier. After Hunk knotted him in front of the bathroom mirror, he came three more times around his knot. Then, once they were able to situate themselves back into the bedroom, they started fucking and didn’t stop.

For hours.

Lance was beside himself; he was in constant need, _begging_ Hunk to keep fucking him even after Hunk was getting to be too sore to move.

“Please,” Lance whined. “Please, Hunk, you’ve gotta move. I need—I _can’t_ stand it, Hunk.”

He was riding Hunk’s dick, plunging himself down desperately onto his half formed knot. The muscles in his legs were screaming for relief, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“I don’t know if I can move.” Hunk was making valiant attempts to thrust his hips upward, but either Lance was hampering his efforts, or he was just too exhausted. Lance couldn’t really tell. He cared, but at the same time, all his sympathy had fled the vicinity, leaving him with a burning desire that needed be sated.

Eventually, whenever Hunk finally popped his knot, he forced Lance to drink water.

“’M not thirsty,” Lance said, but Hunk insisted. And when he took that first sip, he tipped his head back and drank the rest in one go.

The hours dragged on. Lance couldn’t stop—didn’t _want_ to stop. Eventually, it got to the point where Hunk forced them to take a break.

“Lance, let’s try something else.”

Curious but a little afraid, Lance allowed himself to be maneuvered. When Hunk’s cock came into view, he felt reasonably confused.

“But—“  he was already squirming in place. What he _wanted_ was right in front of him.

“Just try it, okay? You don’t have to do anything to me if you don’t want to, but I can help _you_.”

Lance felt Hunk’s tongue prod his hole and nearly shot up into the air. Hunk’s tongue was dexterous and warm, but Lance had never done that before. It felt dirty and wrong. He squirmed, masking his moans against his arm. Hunk didn’t let up, sucking on his rim and lapping at the slick without pause.

Any other time, and Lance would have loved it. He even tried to reciprocate, stroking Hunk’s dick, squeezing his fingers around the base to put pressure on the knot, but he couldn’t concentrate. His body felt like a live wire, and Hunk’s tongue thrusting into his hole was like adding electricity.

“Please,” he gasped, shaking. “It feels good, Hunk, but I want—“

“I—I know. I do, too. I just wanna—” Hunk growled, forcing himself to pull away, and surprised Lance when he prodded Lance’s ass with his fingers.

“Hunk, wait—“

Ignorant to his pleas, Hunk started with two, crooking them and feeling around for Lance’s prostate. It didn’t take him long; Lance’s cock jerked, and he fell forward onto his forehead, shivering, shaking, trying to hold himself back and give Hunk the chance to take a break. He knew Hunk was tired and exhausted—they both were—but he couldn’t stop thinking about his dick, his knot; thinking about how easy it would be if he turned around and sat on it before Hunk could realize what was happening.

“H-how is it?” Hunk asked, sounding out of breath. Before Lance could respond, Hunk added a third finger, and then with some wriggling he squeezed in a fourth, using his free hand to fondle Lance’s balls.

The added sensation shocked Lance into another orgasm. His muscled fluttered around Hunk’s fingers as he came. It felt great, but—Lance moaned, pressing back for more, pleading with Hunk.

“Please, please Hunk, I need it,” he sobbed. “I need you to fuck me.”

“I got you.” Hunk turned Lance around, pulling him into a deep kiss. “I’m sorry, I just—wanted to make it better. I thought it would help.”

 _You’re perfect_ , Lance wanted to say, but Hunk was pressing into him, and that was all he could think about after that.

It wasn’t until Lance fell asleep for the second time that things calmed down. Hunk had a lot more restraint than Lance, so when Lance had woken up, half asleep and a little delirious, he made him drink more water and eat another snack bar. Lance did so without protest, too exhausted to think. He still wanted to be fucked and knotted, but the need had lessened—for the moment.

“Is it always this intense? My leg’s fallen asleep for the eightieth time.” Hunk asked once he’d taken the empty bottle and craned his body around to set it to the side. He returned to his original position, wrapping his arms around Lance’s waist.

Lance was facing the wall, his back cradled against Hunk’s chest. Even though they were absolutely disgusting, covered in a variety of sticky fluids, Hunk seemed content to spoon Lance. He stroked the top of his head, carding his fingers through Lance’s sweaty hair.

Lance didn’t want to admit it, being so self-sufficient and cool, but it was incredibly soothing to be handled so gently by Hunk.

“I don’t think so. I don’t know. Normally…” Lance frowned at the wall. “Well, I’ve never done this more than once. After my first heat, I called it quits and put myself on meds.”

“Wait, really?!” Hunk exclaimed. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“The first time I even mentioned my heat, you completely shut down!” He jabbed Hunk with his elbow. “Remember?”

“Right. Fair enough.” Hunk coughed, embarrassed. “So, uh, you did realize that this could be super intense because of that? Kind of like if a girl goes off birth control and then gets a period for longer than usual.”

Lance craned his neck to stare at him. “How do you even _know_ that?”

“Because that was the most important thing I said.” Hunk rolled his eyes. “Look, I have friends, okay?” At Lance’s dubious brow, he amended: “Maybe I overheard some girls talking about it. Whatever. Did you really think this was going to be easy-breezy? Oh my god.”

Hunk stopped, as if something had just occurred to him.

“What?”

“What if we _are_ stuck like this for a week? Or—or a month? I can’t have marathon sex for a month! My dick will fall off!”

“Pfft, that won’t happen.” He paused. “I hope.”

“Holy crow, we are going to die of too much sex, and on top of that, when they find our bodies, we’ll be naked and humiliated in the afterlife.”

“The point is,” Lance continued, lips twitching. “It’s bad, but it’s not _that_ bad. The part where we become mindless sex machines is fun, isn’t?”

“Well, yeah.” Hunk nodded. “I just wish I was kinda less sore at this point. And I’m more worried about you.”

“Me? I’m totally fine. It’s easy. This is so easy.” Lance averted his gaze. While he liked spending his heat with Hunk, losing total control was a little terrifying. Hunk didn’t need to know that, though. “Besides, we’re in this together, right? Sore muscles and all.”

“You got it, babe.”

“Don’t babe me,” Lance retorted blithely, trying to lighten the mood. He was also worried, but it wasn’t for their health. Truth be told, he hadn’t expected his heat to go like this. Not that he didn’t love having sex with Hunk, but there was a lot of trust and responsibility going around that neither of them had anticipated.

Mostly, he was worried Hunk wouldn’t want to come back after an experience like this.

“Sorry for putting this on you,” he said before he could help it.

“This?”

“All—” He gestured to himself, cheeks burning, “—this. I know it’s not exactly what you expected, and I kind of sprung it on you. I wouldn’t blame you if you were, I dunno, mad.”

“Mad? Are you kidding me?” Hunk asked, incredulous. Lance frowned, turning his body around to look at him. “Yeah it’s kind of intense, but the rest of this heat stuff is—is _amazing_.” He took Lance’s face in his hands, peppering him with warm, insistent kisses. “Lance, you smell like you were made for me, we get to have sex for an entire _day._ Plus, all this needing me stuff is really freaking hot.”

He pulled Lance into a firm hug, crushing their bodies together. Lance squirmed, both embarrassed and _still_ turned on. He felt like was in a constant state arousal, but he was trying to ignore that part of himself.

“Really?” Hunk was incapable of being disingenuous, but Lance was finding it hard to believe he wasn’t at least a _little_ irritated. “I thought it would be annoying.”

“No way! You don’t get it, do you? Aside from needing my knot every so often, the fact that you put this—this sense of trust in me to take care of you is the most satisfying thing I’ve ever felt in my life as an alpha. Don’t get me wrong; I wanna have sex with you like all the time too and that’s _great,_ but it’s overshadowed by this other need to make sure you’re okay. It’s awesome.”

Lance went quiet, a lump of emotion forming in his throat.

“I thought it was weird, y’know?” he said quietly. “I’m not used to being taken care of by anyone. I mean, you’ve seen my family.”

“Yeah, not a lot of solo love when you have a bunch of other siblings.”

“Yeah.” Lance smiled. “But when it’s you, I _want_ to be taken care of. It’s—it’s nice. Not like that houseomega type of crap, but being there for each other. You know?”

There was silence on the end. And Lance now felt like a sap. He looked up to gauge Hunk’s reaction, and did a double take when he saw tears gleaming in his eyes.

“Wha—are you crying?”

“No,” Hunk denied, wiping at his eyes. “I suddenly just felt all emotional. It’s probably the hormones.”

“Yeah.” Lance smiled. “Hormones. That must be it.”

After that, the same sense of urgency that had been present during the entire duration of Lance’s heat seemed nowhere to be found. After their previous bouts of marathon sex, neither of them were in much of a hurry.

Lance was now facing the bed, cushioning his arms on Hunk’s pillow. And this time, when Hunk gripped Lance by his hips and buried himself in his wet heat, he didn’t immediately start moving. He stayed there, grinding their hips together. Lance could feel himself leaking, gushing around his cock. He was inexplicably embarrassed in a way he hadn’t before. It was strange; his mind felt fuzzy, but things were quieter now. Softer.

“You’re really wet here,” Hunk rasped. He pulled out, teasing his entrance with just the head of his dick, and then thrust back inside. He kept the pace slow, giving Lance several long, deep thrusts before backing up and returning to a shallow grind. Pleasure, hot and deep, rolled through Lance.

“Is it—weird?” he asked, grabbing fistfuls of the sheets. It felt weird; _he_ felt weird.

“Not at all. I really,” Hunk leaned over to place a kiss on Lance’s shoulder, slowing his pace even further, “really like it.”

Lance felt like he was losing it. He was hyper aware of his body, sensitive to every point of contact between Hunk and him. The same inexorable need he felt was still present, but it was muted.

Hunk kissed the back of Lance’s nape, his lips lingering. He fucked him slowly, gently, _deeply_. Lance opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a trembling moan. He let his head fall, wanting to say words without knowing what. How could he possibly convey to Hunk how much he meant to him? What could he say without getting tongue-tied or sounding like an idiot?

And then he knew.

“I love you,” he blurted, immediately realizing it was true. He’d always loved Hunk, way before they’d ever gotten together, but he’d been afraid to say it, afraid to take that final step.

He no longer felt afraid.

“Wait,” Hunk stuttered to a stop.  “Holy crow are you—are you serious?”

“I love you, you big goof.” Lance felt Hunk twitch and swell within him, but before he could so much as blink, Hunk had pulled out and they were facing each other again.

“Did you just say you loved me?” Hunk looked star-struck. “Am I dreaming? I must be dreaming.”

“You’re not dreaming, idiot.” Lance chuckled. He pulled Hunk down into a kiss, savoring the taste of his lips. “You’re a lovable guy,” he added. “It should be obvious.”

“I always thought—but I mean, you’re so—“ Hunk stopped to take a breath, his words getting jumbled. “This is the first time you’ve said it.”

“And I meant it. I love you.” He felt Hunk shudder. “Now get back inside me and knot my brains out.”

“Will do.” Hunk rubbed at his eyes, trying to collect himself. “And just for the record, I love you, too.”

This time as Hunk knotted him, Lance felt his feelings resonate deep in his core. Hunk was—everything. Kind, sweet, strong, smart, handsome, and in that moment, there was nothing in the world Lance wanted more than to bond with him. He nearly said it; the words rested on the tip of his tongue, but it was his prior confession that ultimately held him back. He didn’t want to spring on Hunk so soon after affirming their feelings and possibly pressure him into doing it. If it happened— _when_ it happened—he wanted them both to know what they wanted.

Lance wanted Hunk.

* * *

 

“Quiznak,” Lance hissed, gingerly sitting himself down. “Was this really a good idea? My butt is on _fire_.”

“How do you think my dick feels?” Hunk grumbled. He let his head fall to the dining hall table with a thunk. “I’m done having sex for the next _month_.”

“Things have been stressful,” said Shiro from behind them. They were seated at the dining hall, having called Shiro in for some expert advice after what had been a very, very intense heat. Lance still felt a little dizzy when he thought about it.

Shiro placed two bowls of green goo in front of the pair, regarding them carefully.

“Your heat was bound to be a little more intense. It couldn’t be helped. You need to eat and replenish your strength. Aside from that, you’ve never shared a heat with another person, have you, Lance?”

“No.” Lance sighed. “I can’t believe I’m talking to _you_ about this. It’s so—weird! This is exactly what I wanted to avoid.”

“You might have avoided a lot more heartache if both of you had come to me in the first place,” Shiro admonished. “Look, until we get back to Earth, you’re just going to have to deal with it. I have a lot more experience than you do. So if you have any questions—“

“Yeah, yeah, come to you.” Lance shoved some goop into his mouth. A glance to his side informed him that Hunk had already finished more than half of his meal and he was now staring at his bowl thoughtfully. Lance scooted his seat closer and leaned his head on Hunk’s shoulder.

“You doin’ okay there, buddy?”

“What? Oh, yeah.” Hunk lifted his arm and wrapped it around Lance’s shoulder. “Just thinking about how much I miss Earth food. This stuff has grown on me—like a lot of things about space—but I miss cheeseburgers. And man, what I wouldn’t give to have a plate of crunchy, greasy fries covered in ketchup and mustard and pickles. Ugh, I miss pickles.”

“Hey, it’ll happen.” Lance grinned. “After we defeat Zarkon, we’ll go on a date at the nearest fast food joint.”

“Lots of dates,” Hunk added. “And I’m not gonna take it for granted.” He kissed the top of Lance’s head. “I hope you don’t mind that I want to tell my family about you.”

“Hunk, they already know me. I’m more worried about mine!”

“Well they’ve also known me for a long time. I don’t think it’ll be _that_ surprising that we’re together.”

“Guess not.” Lance spooned more goo into his mouth. “I just wish I could see them. And I’m… really glad you’re here, Hunk. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Me, too, Lance.” Hunk nuzzled the side of his head. “I kinda wish we were still on Arus. Then I could spice up dinner every once in a while.”

“Y’know, I never realized you were such a good cook,” Lance pointed out.

“Why do you think I love food so much? Someday I’ll have to make my special secret recipe for you.” Hunk smirked at him. “It’ll knock your socks off.”

“Yeah?” Lance leaned on his elbow, eyeing his goo with distaste. “I’m lookin’ forward to it.”

They returned to eating, forcing down as much goo as they could swallow, when suddenly, the intercom sounded and Allura’s voice filtered loudly throughout the ship.

“Paladins, there’s a situation outside the ship. We need you to form Voltron immediately!”

“Well this is perfect,” Lance grumbled. “Now I get to be tossed around in a lion. My butt is going to _love_ that.” He sighed, then glanced at Hunk. “Back to business?”

Hunk nodded, smiling. They had a galaxy to save.

**Author's Note:**

> I just love these two a lot.
> 
> p.s. at the end there I imagine Shiro got squicked by their romance and bailed, but those two knuckleheads were too dense to notice
> 
> p.p.s. I really wanted Lance to speak spanish but alas I didn't want to resort to google translate and ruin it. If any of you know anyone willing to translate for future fic, please let me know~


End file.
